Halifax LW235 at Nunnington, Helmsley.
Halifax LW235 flying with 78 Squadron.
On 20th October 1944 the crew on this Halifax were returning to Wombleton airfield following a a nighttime
bombing exercise, the weather over their base was bad and the pilot was having trouble in seeing the runway lighting.
He made three attempts at landing and had to overshoot all three because of the poor visibility. Following the third overshoot
the aircraft failed to gain enough height to avoid a crash as they flew south. Soon afterwards the aircraft crashed at
Nunnington at 02.55hrs. The flight lasted just short of two hours. The aircraft smashed through trees on impact which
broke the aircraft into peices, some of which caught fire. Five of the crew sustained
injuries and two others lost their lives as a result of the crash. It was found that the crew had not been at their
correct stations prior to the crash.
A number of Wombleton's groundcrew were soon on the scene, one of which was Chief Technician, Sgt Charles Halliwell (525179). He
was awarded the British Empire Medal for gallantry at this aircraft crash; dispite the aircraft being on fire he dragged all
three of the remaining airmen out of the wreckage though sadly only one of these would survive. In correspondance with Mr
John Stanton whose father served as ground crew at Wombleton when this incident occured, he informs me that a number of
personnel were billeted with families in Nunnington village. It could be that the speed the rescuers were on the scene was mainly
due to those billeted in the village being so close to the crash site.
Sgt Halliwell's family have asked me to point out that.. "After a posting to Southern Rhodesia and a long life in the RAF,
Charles Halliwell retired in 1971. He moved to Slingsby and then to York where he died on 14th October 1999. His ashes are
scattered on his beloved Moors. He was a skilled aircraft artist and some of his paintings can be seen at the Yorkshire Air
Museum at Elvington near York." I would like to thank various members of his family for their contact and for correcting
any previous incorrect information detailed on this webpage and elsewhere on the internet.
Those who died as a result of this accident were..
Flight Engineer - Sgt Herbert Vance RAFVR (1799345), aged 21, of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Buried Belfast City Cemetery.
Rear Gunner - Sgt John Wakefield RCAF (R/273518), aged 18, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Those who survived were..
Pilot - F/O John H MacLean RCAF (J/36648?), of South Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - seriously injured.
? - F/O L E Sherwood RCAF, injured.
? - F/O E L Somerville RCAF, injured.
? - Sgt G N Pollock, injured.
? - Sgt Frank W Thomas RCAF, of St John, New Brunswick, Canada - seriously injured.
Sgt Wakefield's gravestone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Sgt Vance, this photograph appeared in a Belfast Newspaper. I wish to thank Mr Philip Batt for looking his death up and copying me
the relevent articles, without which Sgt Vance's personal details would not be known. His father lived at 22 Springfield Parade, Belfast.
His funeral was held on Friday 27th October 1944, in attendance were members of his family including his father and four brothers.
There was a floral tribute from RAF Station Wombleton.
This photograph taken at the time of the crash is believed to show the wreckage of Halifax LW235 at Nunnington.
The area of the crash in 2006 looking in the direction of Wombleton.
F/O MacLean had a total of 194 hours flying time prior to the crash, however
only seven hours solo were on the Halifax type and with only three of these hours
being at night.
I would like to thank Ms Helen Porter for emailing me, a family friend of John Wakefield's own family who lived in close
to each other prior to the Wakefield's moving to Canada. John Wakefield grew up in Yorkshire. I would also like to thank the
family of Charles Halliwell for contacting me.